Cannot rule out possibility of two-front war against Pak, China: Army chief

New Delhi: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said that India should be prepared for a two-front war against China on the North and Pakistan on the West.

Speaking about China, India's Northern adversary, Rawat said that “flexing of muscles has started”, according to a report in NDTV.

“Salami slicing, taking over territory in a very gradual manner, testing our limits or threshold is something we have to be wary about. Remain prepared for situations that are emerging gradually into conflict," he said.

Rawat said that a war with China could expand along the borders with the Western adversary, i.e. Pakistan.

"Whether these conflicts will be limited and confined in space and time, or whether these can expand into an all-out war along the entire front with the Western adversary (Pakistan) taking advantage of the situation developing on the Northern border is very much likely," he said.

Rawat’s statement comes days after the standoff between India and China in Doklam in Bhutanese territory ended.

After tensions between the two countries ceased along the border, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on a visit to China for a BRICS Summit, held bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two leaders had underlined the necessity of peace and tranquility at border areas.

Meanwhile, tensions between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control seem nowhere close to an end. It has been running high since the terrorist attack in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district in September last year.